The Nigeria Police Force has inaugurated the West African Police Information System (WAPIS) headquarters in Abuja.

The centre, located at the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) office, Force Headquarters, Abuja, was inaugurated by Nigeria's Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi. 

The Minister conducted the inauguration on Wednesday May 26 alongside the Inspector-General of Police, Ag. IGP Usman Alkali Baba, psc (+), NPM, fdc, representatives of INTERPOL, European Union (EU), and ECOWAS.

Some of the dignitaries at the inauguration include; the Chairman Police Service Commission, members of the Diplomatic Corps, Director-General of NAPTIP, Mrs. Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service represented by DCG CW Adepoju, and other Heads of security agencies duly represented, amongst others.   

Dingyadi said the centre would provide an integrated platform for national, regional, and global police data exchange. He assured that the centre would address security threats including trans-national organized crimes and terrorism in ECOWAS member States and Mauritania.

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IGP Usman Alkali said the establishment of the WAPIS centre in Nigeria is part of efforts by the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force to galvanize a multinational front and sustain international collaboration and partnership with police organizations across the world.

The Police Chief noted that it would ensure effective intelligence sharing in combatting security challenges – terrorism, violent extremism, kidnapping, piracy, armed conflict, illicit flow of small arms and light weapons, human trafficking, illicit trade of drugs amongst other prevailing and emerging security threats in Nigeria, the West African sub-region and the Global community.

The IGP assured that the WAPIS Centre Nigeria will be effectively utilized for coordinated collection, storage, and real-time sharing of criminal data, movement of persons and goods, and border security, for prompt crime detection, prevention, prosecution, rehabilitation and projection. 

In a statement by the Force PRO, Frank Mba, he said the Secretary-General of INTERPOL, represented by Mr. Carl Alexandre, Executive Director, Partnership and Programs, INTERPOL, emphasized the importance of effective police information exchange within the African region, as well as between the region and the rest of the world through INTERPOL secure communication channel.

The Police PRO also said the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Nigeria represented by EU Deputy Head of Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Alexandre Borges Gomes, stressed the necessity of digitalization of police services to improve the quality and transparency of police officers in the fight against crimes and criminality.

Mba said the President of the ECOWAS Commission, who was also represented by the Vice-President of the Commission, Mrs Finda Koroma, noted that the main challenges in fighting transnational organized crime is the lack of appropriate infrastructure to collect, store, manage, analyze and share criminal data among law enforcement agencies, which WAPIS will help address.       

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